You see where I’m from, Christmas was not something we counted down to exactly. Though some of us would have, I'd guess most people across India could say the same…
We had it, sure: a lit-up tree in the corner of the mall, a christian neighbour sending over a slice of cake, maybe a carol service if you went to the right school. But it never took over the streets the way it did in some other parts of the world, no cities rearranging itself around it, no six weeks of Christmas markets, or other ‘serious’ celebrations…
There's a whole world out there that celebrates the festival in stunning fashion, so I don’t want this to be a clutter of the so-called ‘best places to visit for Christmas’ where you’ll end up being confused. Instead, think of this as a map of the extremes you could easily plan your holiday around: from a town that writes policy about their garlands, and a place where people believe it's Santa’s hometown, to a city whose entire economy run off two months of Christmas lights, and a handful of places that skip winter altogether and still call themselves among the best Christmas holiday destinations around.
The Big Four: Europe's Oldest Christmas Markets
Four cities across Europe have been running the same ‘December’ for centuries, literally, and in some cases, since the 1400s. This makes room for one of the best things to do for Christmas across the world if you’re travelling around the occasion…
Vienna, Austria's Christmas market tradition traces back to 1298, when Albert I first granted the city permission to hold a December market. Today the city runs over 20 of them at once, but the one outside the Rathaus is the one everyone means when they say "Vienna Christmas market". It pulls close to 3 million people a season, alongside hot punch, gingerbread, and an ice rink that takes over the square.
Strasbourg, France's market has been running since 1570, which makes it the oldest continuously held Christmas market in the country. Over 300 stalls now spread across the Grande Île, a UNESCO-listed old town, selling vin chaud and bredele biscuits under half-timbered houses. Half an hour away, Colmar splits the same tradition across five smaller squares, each with its own theme.
Nuremberg, Germany's Christkindlesmarkt opens the same way every year: on the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent, a local teenager dressed as the Christkind steps onto the balcony of the Frauenkirche and recites a prologue that's been read, in some form, since 1948. Around 180 stalls with red-and-white striped roofs fill the square below, selling Nürnberger Lebkuchen and Rostbratwurst until the market closes, without exception, at 2pm on Christmas Eve.
Prague, Czech Republic's Old Town Square market runs beneath the astronomical clock, which has been performing its Walk of the Apostles on the hour since 1410; twelve carved figures filing past a window while a golden cockerel crows to close it out. It's the oldest working clock of its kind anywhere, and it's done this same forty-five-second show, for over six hundred Decembers running!
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Santa's Actual Hometown: Celebration in the Arctic
Rovaniemi, Finland built the office in 1985, right on the Arctic Circle line, and calls it Santa's official hometown. I wouldn't call it a stretch, given that over 700,000 visitors a year come through the Santa Claus Village to check. The Post Office there too gets close to half a million letters annually from nearly 200 countries, and Santa answers every one with a return address.
December turns the whole place up with a lot of things to do for Christmas, from reindeer sleigh rides and husky safaris running daily, to Snowman World opening its ice bar, snow restaurant, & skating rink, along with SantaPark letting you eat dinner off ice furniture while an elf-run show happens next door at. Throw in the Northern Lights showing up often enough over your head, and there's very little about Christmas here that's…’normal’.
If meeting Santa in his supposed hometown sounds like the Christmas plan you'll love, discover our Finland tour packages from India today.
The Iconic City Celebrations
New York City's Rockefeller Center tree tradition started in 1931, when construction workers pooled their money for a 20-foot balsam fir. It's been an official annual event since 1933, and this year's tree runs closer to 75 feet, carrying around 50,000 lights and a 900-pound Swarovski star on top.
A few blocks over, Fifth Avenue's window displays go back even further. Macy's started the tradition in 1874, and today stores like Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, and Bloomingdale's each spend months building theirs, with Macy's alone reportedly pulling in around 10,000 people a day just to look through the glass.
London runs its own thing through Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland, which started in 2007 and now pulls in over 3 million visitors across six weeks; making it one of the largest Christmas events anywhere, not just in the city. Oxford Street and Regent Street handle the retail spectacle overhead with their annual light installations, while the Southbank Centre's market runs along the river with stalls selling roasted chestnuts and mulled wine to anyone willing to queue.
The Unconventional: Neither Market Nor Metropolis
Reykjavik, Iceland doesn't get much daylight to work with in December, around four hours, with the sun up from roughly 11:20am to 3:30pm. So it leans into the dark instead of fighting it. The city's Christmas season runs a full 26 days, starting December 11 when the first of the 13 Yule Lads comes down from the mountains, each one arriving on a different night with his own specific mischief (one steals milk froth, another licks spoons) until the last one shows up on Christmas Eve. Add a giant illuminated Christmas Cat watching over one of the main squares, which Icelandic folklore says has eaten anyone who doesn't get new clothes before the 25th, and Reykjavik ends up becoming the most detailed, most specific Christmas mythology on this list.
Sydney, Australia does Christmas at the beach, literally, giving you some rather unexpected things to do for Christmas. Bondi is filled with thousands of people in Santa hats and swimwear every December 25th, and in 2015, 320 people in full Santa costumes set a Guinness World Record there for the largest surf lesson ever held. The traditional Christmas lunch swaps roast and pudding for prawns and a barbecue, eaten outdoors. Whatever image "Christmas" conjures for you, Sydney's is built to contradict it point for point. And if you prefer your Christmas in sunshine rather than snow, explore our Australia tour packages and spend the festive season on the other side of the world.
Tokyo, Japan runs Christmas on wattage. Wait, watt? Yes, Roppongi Hills strings around 800,000 to 930,000 LEDs along the 400-metre Keyakizaka Street each year under a "Snow & Blue" theme, with Tokyo Tower lit up in the background, while Caretta Shiodome runs its own six-minute blue-LED light and music show every 20 minutes through the season.
And then there's this thing about chicken: since a 1974 marketing campaign convinced the country that fried chicken was the American Christmas dish, roughly 3.5 million Japanese households now order a KFC party barrel every December 24th, often weeks or months in advance, making it, by a wide margin, the single most successful Christmas ad campaign in the country's history.
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So, Where Would You Like To Celebrate Christmas This Year?
Vienna's palace markets, Rovaniemi's reindeer and letters, London's six-week takeover, New York's staged spectacle, Reykjavik's month of dark and folklore, Sydney's beach lunch, Tokyo's half-million LEDs; none of it collapses into one easy answer for the best places to visit for Christmas. Every city on this list is betting on a completely different idea of what the season should feel like, and none of them are wrong.
So if you're still working through your own shortlist of the best places to visit in December or deciding on the things to do for Christmas, that's the thing worth settling first, not the destination, but what you're actually into. Connect with our destination experts today and let us help you plan a winter holiday that times the Christmas celebrations right!
